Minister of Interior Mr. Nikos Nouris spoke today on the issue of the establishment of a unit for the surveillance of the green line, due to the state of emergency that the country is going through due to the increased migratory flows. The country cannot afford to wait for time-consuming decisions when on a daily basis the inflows are such that they have created a huge 'imbalance' between inflows and outflows, he said in a statement.
Speaking to reporters after the conclusion of the Parliamentary Committee on Legal Affairs, Justice and Public Order, the Interior Minister said that the Legal Affairs Committee had begun discussing the Justice Ministry's proposal to set up a green line surveillance unit.
He said that the proposal is specific and "provides for the Government's intention to proceed in a specific way to recruit contractors to speed up procedures in the face of the state of emergency that the country is going through, regarding the issues of migratory flows from the Green Line."
He reiterated that it concerns a specific proposal, noting that positions and mainly concerns were heard regarding the trade union aspect of the issue.
"Since this is something that touches on the Ministry of Justice, let me dwell on the political aspect of the issue that concerns the Ministry of Interior," he said.
"The Interior Ministry has made it clear that for us, the only way to control the flows from the Green Line, which currently accounts for more than 90 per cent of illegal inflows into the Republic of Cyprus through this route, is to implement them simultaneously and synergistically, both the placing of physical barriers on the Green Line and the setting up of a surveillance unit, and of course the very important help that we expect to be given by the surveillance system that is expected to be installed from the end of the summer onwards", he said.
"Therefore, I want to hope that by bringing the issue back on the next agenda of the Committee, the urgency of the matter has been understood by the parliamentary parties on this particular issue," he added.
He noted that actions will be taken in the meantime to satisfy some positions particularly on behalf of the trade unions. "But what we all need to understand is that this country cannot afford to wait for time-consuming decisions when on a daily basis the inputs are such that they have created a huge 'imbalance' between inputs and outputs," he said.
"Despite the fact that we are making huge efforts together with the Police to move forward on deportation issues, despite the fact that we have managed - because it is an achievement believe me - to return in the first four months of 2022, 1645 migrants to their countries, which is on average the highest number in proportion among EU member states, this number is far from the more than 7,000 that have arrived in the first months of 2022," the Interior Minister said.
He stressed that there are no magic recipes and added that "it is imperative to have surveillance of the Green Line", explaining that it is "our contractual obligation also towards the EU under the Green Line Regulation."
"I want to hope that the House of Representatives will give the green light to proceed with the establishment of this body," he said.
Asked whether the duties of the 300 contractors will be only the surveillance of the Green Line, Nuris replied that "the duties of this unit are duties of preventing the entry into the Republic of illegals who do not have the right to enter the Green Line." Explaining the concept of 'auxiliary duties' mentioned in the proposal, he noted that this refers to the possibility that "these people may be used in the event that in the centres, such as for example in 'Pournara', we either have clashes or we have conflicts" and clarified that this unit will always help in everything that has to do with the concept of immigration.
In response to a reporter's question regarding the psychometric tests and whether there is concern that the contractors will be in possession of weapons, the Minister said that the question is for the relevant Ministry and the Cyprus Police and stressed that what worries him above all is that "I see my country at this moment becoming a place of admission of illegals every day and we cannot react in a proper way to limit the influx".
"Therefore, everything should be done in the right way, with the ultimate goal and effect of limiting the inflows," the Interior Minister concluded."
For the video statement here(VOULI.TV)
(EFYs)
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